Willie leaned forward and snorted the slender line of the powdery substance into his left nostril. Raw from constant irritation, his eyes flittered momentarily in pain. He sat up and lifted his chin high to let the pungent substance soak in, and then he quickly dropped his head back toward the Formica top and snorted a second line into his right nostril, which for some reason was not nearly as sore as his left. He sat up and waited for the powerful drug to take effect. His mind was frazzled. Sleep for Willie had been pretty much non-existent lately. After the murder of his friend and mentor, Dr. Joe, his life had spun out of control. His feelings of depression and paranoia had been growing ever since that night. Feelings of guilt and fear had pushed his anxiety level to new highs and no amount of coke or meth seemed to sooth the pain for very long.
Willie tapped the table top nervously with his fingers. His frantic eyes searched the length and depth of his cluttered mobile home searching for nothing in particular. Pacing back and forth a few times in the small mobe seemed to sooth the anxiety just long enough for him to keep him from going completely out of his mind. Luckily, the drug was beginning to take effect. A subtle buzz started to pulse through his veins giving him a very temporary sense of well-being. For causal coke users, their highs lasted for several hours, but for someone like him, the actual high was only temporary--about an hour at best. He needed the drug more often and therefore he needed more money to fuel his addiction--money he didn’t have. He lifted his cell phone and punched the speed dial.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes, I am. Hank went to Sweet Bay to buy a bottle of wine for a party we are going to a little later.”
Willie laughed sarcastically. “And how is life in your little paradise, Mom? Are things going pretty well?”
“Look, what do you want? I’m in a hurry, Hank will be back soon.”
Tears suddenly welled in Willie’s eyes. “I’m scared, Mom. I’m fuckin’ scared to death.”
“Don’t use that word around me, okay?”
“Sorry Mom, but I’m falling apart over here! It’s been a year and the detectives are still calling me and asking questions. It’s been too long, I think they’re suspicious of me.”
Susan sighed, “What does that have to do with me?”
Willie’s brow furrowed and his tone became harsh. “Cut the bullshit, Mom. You know what I’m talking about.”
The phone went quiet on the other end for a few seconds and then his mother replied, speaking very softly “Do you think this has been easy for me? The man I loved was viciously murdered and my whole life was turned upside down. Why it’s just been awful for me.”
“Yeah, you’re really in a tough spot, Mom. Living in a million-dollar house in Bridgeport and driving a Cadillac Escalade around your beloved Villages every day. My heart is breaking for you.”
“I’m hurting inside.”
Willie chuckled, “Oh I’ll bet you are, your grief must be overwhelming. I think you may be forgetting a few things, Mom.”
“I don’t know what on earth you are talking about.”
“Well, since you asked,” Willie paused and jiggled a cigarette out of a nearby pack. He stuck it between his teeth, snatched the Bic lighter off the table and lit up. He took a long drag, exhaled and continued in a low, hoarse voice. “Let me jog your memory, Mom. Remember when I accidentally told you about the insurance money one night when I was stoned out of my mind on coke? A dumb mistake on my part, I thought at the time, but as fate would have it, it turned out to be a big help.”
“Listen son, I really have to get….”
Willie quickly interrupted, his gravelly voice shouting into the phone, “No, you don’t, damn it! No, you don’t! You’re into this thing up to your eyeballs, Mom! I didn’t want to kill Dr. Joe. I had changed my mind. I liked the guy too much, but you talked me into it, Mom, remember? You gave me the money to buy the gun and you talked me into killing him! Hell, you’re more guilty than I am! You wanted that million dollars and you know it! You said you needed the money to pay that creep, Dusty, the twenty thousand you owed him. You never really loved Dr. Joe; he was just a means to an end for you. You always had your eye on that Hank fella! He was your dream man, not fat old Dr. Joe! Now you have it all, Mom--lots of money, a beautiful house in The Villages, and a handsome and very rich husband. I’m still living alone in this shit hole in Orlando with no one to hang with since my friend Tito was shot to death by the police!”
Susan spoke almost inaudibly, “He wasn’t your friend, you were just using him.”
“Well shit, you’re probably right, Mom. You’re the expert on using people. If you say I was using him, it must be true.”
“What an awful thing to say to your mother.”
“Oh, forgive me all to hell, Mom.”
“Listen, it’s twenty-til and Hank could be back anytime and there’s something I have to tell you.”
“What’s that.”
“Hank and I had dinner with Joe’s attorney, Doug Johnson, last evening.”
“Really?”
“I wouldn’t joke about something like this, son. After dinner, Mr. Johnson informed me that he had talked with the detective in charge of Joe’s case just yesterday and he was told that the police have completed their investigation and that the case will soon be closed. He apologized for the lengthy delay and told me that we should have our money in a matter of days. He said we would have had it much sooner, except for the fact that it was contested quite vigorously by Joe’s daughter, Heather, but she had an unexpected change of heart recently and gave him the go ahead to give us our share.”
Willie jumped to his feet, kicking his chair to the side. He began pacing the floor and shouting, while waving his free arm wildly in the air. “Shit! That’s great! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“You didn’t give me a chance. Congratulations, son, Our ship has arrived.”
Willie was running his hand through his hair over and over again, his tired eyes wide with excitement. “What about the attorney? How much do we owe the attorney?”
She giggled, “Nothing. He’s waiving all of his normal fees because Dr. Joe was such a good friend of his.”
“So the whole quarter mil is all mine?”
“That’s right, son. It’s all yours!”
“Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!”
“The garage door just went up, Hank’s home. I have to go, son. Love you!”
“Love you, Mom!”